Bridge
1. Find three friendly co-players. Bridge is a four-player game played in teams of two players each, so your significant other and another couple are a good potential choice. Teams sit across from each other around a square table. *For purposes of notation, each side of the table is given the name of a cardinal direction. Thus, the players in a bridge game are commonly referred to as North, South, East, and West. North and South play on a team against East and West. 2. Learn the structure of the game. Bridge is played with a standard 52-card deck in deals of 13 cards per player, so that the entire deck is dealt out each hand. After the deck is dealt, players make bids. The final bid determines the importance of each suit as well as the overall goal for each deal. Deals are then played card-by-card in 13 sub-rounds known as “tricks.” The goal of the game is to win 7 or more tricks on each deal in order to score points. Deals continue until one team accumulates a predetermined number of points.*Scoring systems vary from style to style and group to group. *Players typically take turns in a clockwise fashion. This means that actions alternate evenly between the two teams. 3. Begin the first trick. Now that a trump suit (or a bid of no trump) has been established for the deal, the tricks begin. Play begins with the defender to the left of the declarer. The defender “leads” the trick by placing a card face up on the table. The suit of this card is the suit for the trick, which means that players can only win the trick with a card of that suit, or a trump suit card.*The other two suits don't count during this trick. *Once the trick has been led, the dummy spreads his or her entire hand out on the table, usually in four columns organized by suit. The dummy's hand is played by the declarer for the rest of the deal. Defenders play normally. **The dummy has an unusual role. The dummy cannot comment on the strategic decisions of the declarer, but is allowed to point out when the declarer would accidentally violate a rule of the game. Otherwise, he or she leaves the decisions to the declarer for the duration of the deal. *Lead suit cards must be played if possible. For example, if the suit of the lead card is clubs, and you have a club in your hand, you must play it rather than any other card. If you don't have any cards in the leading suit, you may “'ruff'” (play a trump suit card, assuming it is different from the lead suit) or “'sluff'” (play a card from one of the two remaining suits). **A ruff is likely to win the trick, as any card from a trump suit beats every card of every other suit. **A sluff is functionally the same as a pass, and cannot ever win the trick. Category:Standard deck of cards games